Weekend Update 12/13/20

[NtheBasement]

no run around, i thought about it, but i need the length and each train goes to staging where it dies for the session.  it would make setting up for the next session not a hands on experience... so it has merit, i just am not sure how to implement.

the staging as drawn does not overlap, but yes, 10" is tight.  i'm trying to avoid a "dirty" word round and round elevation gainer 

Maybe move the main over a bit and have the staging make a 90 degree turn up along the left wall?

[davefoxx]

i'm trying to avoid a "dirty" word round and round elevation gainer 

Hahahahahahaha!!!!

DFF

[645diesel]

Could you put a slide out index table across the stub end of the yard? A friend is building an HO yard which will use a two track, pull out "traverser" - mounted on drawer slides - to release engines in a stub yard to a run around track...

i was contemplating a movable table to add more length and to get another track in staging.  i have been looking at having it controlled via servo.  i'd like to automate three of the run thru trains (Apollo 3, NE2, and MB3) to focus on operating the ones with work in Oneonta, the yard job,  and the local.  with 9 staging tracks (4 over 5) i could cover the daylight hour trains over this stretch of the division.
more to chew on, thank you.

Maybe move the main over a bit and have the staging make a 90 degree turn up along the left wall?

i've been building out the rough idea... here is a something from today.  the spur with the two tracks is me trying to site in a cement load out inspired by Howes Cave.


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[PiperguyUMD]

Nice - What did you use for grasses?

Here's my recipe so far:

2mm BURNT GRASS STATIC GRASS FLOCK - WD0633
2mm LIGHT GREEN STATIC GRASS FLOCK - WD0634
6mm AUTUMN GOLD STATIC GRASS 2.6 oz. (75g) - HK3371
10mm AUTUMN GOLD STATIC 50g/1.75 oz. - HK3378

[Jim Starbuck]

I finished up a Bachmann NW2 this week.
Added details are BLMA drop grabs, shortened stacks with homemade brass flares, Archer treadplate decals on the walkways, brass trainline hoses, brass cab shades and Z scale couplers.
Paint is Truecolor engine black with Valejo clear satin top coat. White lettering is homemade and the red heralds are from Circus City.

It’s also got a Loksound 58823 v5 decoder with a Soberton 8x12 speaker in the cab.
Lights are 0603 LEDs and there are two 25v 220uf capacitors up front.
It runs very nicely.
I’ll do a decoder install thread in the DCC forum later.

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[SkipGear]

Since my weekend is Tuesday/Wednesday......got back to work on my Cincinnatian.

[sirenwerks]

A signature western scene, IMO, given the importance of water rights out here and of hydroelectricity to the PacNW.

[nkalanaga]

Also a historic scene, as they took the dam out a few years ago!

[Chris333]

Don't forget you can't use foam as a base for water! 

[hegstad1]

Don't forget you can't use foam as a base for water! 

True!  I plan on skimming the surface with plaster.  I have done this before and it has worked well. Should be OK, right?

[645diesel]

True!  I plan on skimming the surface with plaster.  I have done this before and it has worked well. Should be OK, right?

that should work.  in the past i used layers of gloss medium as water to decent effect.  it takes time, but you can have a depth and "murky" quality to a pond you won't get from an epoxy product.

[davefoxx]

True!  I plan on skimming the surface with plaster.  I have done this before and it has worked well. Should be OK, right?

That and a coat of latex paint ought to do it.  Like @645diesel, I use gloss medium, and I don't think that's as susceptible to the air bubbles as the epoxy-type products.

DFF

[davefoxx]

Also a historic scene, as they took the dam out a few years ago!

How much did the water level drop upstream when they decommissioned the dam?  Or is there a new dam?

DFF

[nkalanaga]

It wasn't a large dam, as its only purpose was to raise the water level enough to run a small hydroelectric plant.  The problem was that the reservoir was almost filled with metal-contaminated sediment.

https://www.missoulacounty.us/government/health/health-department/missoula-valley-water-quality-district/cleanup-sites/milltown-dam

"The dam was built in 1906-7. A large flood in 1908 filled the reservoir with sediments containing wastes from upstream mining operations in Butte and Anaconda. The dam was 21 feet high, with eight foot wooden flashboards on its crest. It had been repeatedly damaged by floods and ice over the years, and re-fortified with concrete – however the original timber crib structure remained in place until its removal in 2008.

The reservoir held about 6.6 million cubic yards of sediments, about 3 million yards of which were heavily contaminated with metals, including 2,100 tons of arsenic, 13,100 tons of copper, 19,000 tons of zinc, 143,900 tons of iron, and 9,200 tons of manganese. The depth of contaminated sediments ranged from 1 to more than 25 feet. Water depth in the reservoir averaged about four to eight feet."

So, at the dam, the maximum water level drop would have been 29 feet, if the water was at the top of the dam.  When they took the dam, and sediment, out, they also had to rebuild the piers for the highway bridges, as they were built later than the dam, and the weight of the water and sediment helped stabilize them.  The BNSF/BN/NP bridge apparently didn't have that problem, either because it predated the dam, or because the media just didn't mention it.

They took the sediment to a disposal site, and capped it with clean dirt.  Given the amount of metal in it, it sounds like they could have dried it and shipped it to a smelter, making some money.